Jenkins basketball coach James Burke has been impressed with the ball-handling abilities and all-around game of Makayla Robinson since he saw her play in middle school.

Now the freshman is running the point for the Warriors, who are starting to play some impressive basketball.

Friday night the Warriors avenged a loss from earlier in the season with a strong fourth quarter to beat visiting Ware County 51-47 in a Region 3-AAAAA game.

Robinson and junior Faith Sanders were the difference for the Warriors, who improved to 8-7 overall and 4-4 in region play. Jenkins has won seven of its last nine.

“Makayla was the best point guard in the city as a seventh-grader,” Burke said. “She’s just a freak when it comes to basketball. Her brother Justin was a real good football player for us, so athleticism runs in the family.”

The 5-foot-3 point guard was relatively quiet in the first half when it came to scoring, but she came on strong down the stretch, scoring 10 of her 14 points in the second half. She also had 13 rebounds, with six assists and six steals.

Ware County beat Jenkins by 10 points on Dec. 8, and the Gators outscored the Warriors 16-12 in the third quarter to take a three-point lead Friday night.

But Jenkins played strong in crunch time, with an 18-11 advantage in the fourth quarter to take the game.

With Jenkins leading by two with 1:24 left, Robinson made a nifty spin move to elude a defender on her way to the hoop. Her shot was too strong, but she grabbed her own miss, and showed nice touch on a short jump shot that gave Jenkins a 47-43 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“If we’re under pressure, she’s going to have the ball. She wants the ball in her hands in those situations,” Burke said.

Robinson seemed just as calm and collected after the game as she did when the pressure was on.

“They played pretty good defense on me early, but I just tried to keep my head in the game,” said Robinson, who is averaging 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. “I was just trying to get the ball to my teammates. The first time we played them, they beat us because it was early in the season and we didn’t have any chemistry yet. But as the season has gone on, we’ve become closer and are starting to play as a team.”

Sanders, a 5-10 junior, has been a double-double machine for the Warriors since her freshman season.

She came up big again Friday with 20 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and four steals.

She got to the line 17 times, many after grabbing offensive rebounds and going back strong to the basket. She converted 14 of 17 from the line.

“Free throws have been a weakness of mine, so I’ve been working on them by going to the YMCA every day,” Sanders said. “We wanted to win this one bad, because they beat us before. But we have grown so much, I’m really proud of this team.

Sanders said Robinson has been a key addition, helping the Warriors absorb the loss of Camille Dash, the standout guard now playing college ball at Francis Marion.

“I lost Camille, but gained Makayla,” Sanders said. “She knows how to play and is very fluid with the basketball.”